JONAMAR JACINTO/The Bulletin

It looked that way, anyway, especially after Sierra mounted a commanding two-game lead with a pair of 25-7 victories Monday against visiting Central Valley.

But shades of their Sept. 28 meeting in Ceres began to take shape, as Sierra had to grind it out in four game. The Timberwolves (8-5 Valley Oak League, 13-6 overall) dropped Game 3, 20-25, before righting the ship in the fourth, 25-15.

“I don’t know what it is. We kind of played Sierra High volleyball the first two games, but they didn’t challenge us either,” Sierra coach Tevani Liotard said. “Once we got ahead, it was like, ‘What are we doing?’ We had that contagious disease where nobody moved their feet and communicated. It was frustrating to watch.”

Central Valley (6-7, 10-13) stunned the VOL’s third-place team on Sept. 28 by taking three straight hotly contested games after losing the first, 9-25.

Sierra needed to get even Monday to get a better grip on a Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoff spot. The Timberwolves are 15th on the midseason playoff power ratings, while Central Valley is 17th. The top 16 teams advance.

Sierra was in full control in the first two games and was aided by countless unforced errors on the Hawks’ end. But Central Valley opened the third by taking its largest lead of the match at 8-1 on Alyssa Meschach’s kill.

“We talked about revenge. We lost to them in four, so we wanted to beat them in three,” Liotard said. “But in that third game we thought that we can continue playing at that tempo. They’re a good team with that heart and drive, and we need to match that.”

Sierra got its groove back in the clinching fourth game behind middle blockers Jaslynn Liotard and Alysia Atkins, who shared match-high honors with 11 kills. Liotard also had six blocks, 10 digs and 17 service points. Atkins added three blocks, nine digs and 13 points.

DeArbia Gardner fired in three kills to pace the Cougars, Andrea Vega picked up six digs and Laura Ramos recorded four aces. Sidney Carter and Laura Ramos contributed two blocks apiece, and Anais Castillo finished with three assists.